By Scholastica JOSEPH, Makurdi
The Medicines Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Border, MSF, has called on United Nations organizations to, as a matter of necessity, support Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, in Benue state to avert imminent dangers at the camps.
The project coordinator for MSF in Benue State, Mitch Rhyner, stated this while speaking on the huge humanitarian crisis in Benue IDP camps especially at Ortese camp in Guma local government area.
Ortese camp, which is located along Makurdi/Lafia Highway, some 35 kilometers from Makurdi town, is one of the unofficial camps in the state. It houses over 11,000 IDPs who are living in deplorable conditions.
At the Ortese camp, a lady, who identified herself as Felicia, spoke to our correspondent saying, “We have no house to sleep inside. When it rains, it rains on us or we will remain standing in the few classrooms that are here.
“When it rains, some worms come out of the ground and infect the children through the nose. We are also in constant battle with snakes in our tents. We don’t have food to eat. We don’t have water here except the water trucks provided by MSF. This place is not conducive. I really want to go home but the herders have taken over our villages.”
The camp manager, Hur Ayabo, appealed to the federal government to stop the killings and facilitate their return to their various homes.
“This not where we should be. We are also Nigerians and deserve some peace and a place to lay our heads.”
Out of the 111,000, our correspondent observed that majority of the women are pregnant, others are nursing babies within the ages of 0 to 7 months.
Rhyner also noted that the population of IDPs has kept surging due to renewed attacks on the people but expressed sadness that much attention is not being given to them.
“We are very disappointed with the humanitarian response in Benue. We feel that many displaced people are not receiving the very basic services they should.
“They are exposed to rain, to wind, to dust and other actors are not stepping in. Doctors Without Borders focuses on health care. We expect other actors to step in and cover other needs.”
According to him, more people are staying in primary schools and in a number of buildings that are not conducive. “This is one area we will expect the UN agencies and State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, to support the IDPs.
